Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

At a political level, a successful meeting of the All-Island Civic Dialogue on Brexit took place in Dublin Castle last week. It was the fifth meeting of the dialogue to date. There has been engagement between civil servants in Dublin and Belfast on understanding the challenges of Brexit and the responses that may be necessary, particularly in a no-deal scenario. We have had some very good and frank discussions in that regard. It is important to let people know publicly that the Governments want to inject some urgency into this issue. For example, it may well be necessary for more legislation to be passed in Westminster to allow civil servants to be able to make practical decisions to protect vulnerable sectors in the context of a no-deal Brexit. We do not like that, but we recognise that it might be necessary. We certainly do not want to move towards a situation of direct rule for Northern Ireland. We cannot support that and will not support it. It is totally contrary to what the Good Friday Agreement should be about.

This is why we want to intensify efforts to work with all parties to find a way of getting not just an Executive but all the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement functioning again and doing what they were set up to do, which is to create a sense of normality, partnership and co-operation on this island in order to reinforce the positive benefits of the peace process.

See this speech in context